Tight security in Dhaka jail before execution of Salauddin Quader and Mujahid

Security has been tightened in and around the Dhaka Central Jail before the execution of war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.

They are likely to be handed any moment.

Two magistrates have reportedly entered the jail to check on whether the two convicts will seek presidential pardon.

Both have been ministers before.

The jail authorities are tightlipped.

Some like the US-based Human Rights Watch have called for not going ahead with the executions.

HRW Executive Director Brad Adams said in a press release that it was necessary to try war criminals responsible for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

"But the trials must meet international standards," he said.

Chittagong’s wartime terror Salauddin and former Al-Badr militia commander Mujahid have been kept in the condemned cell of the jail.

Traffic on the street in front of the jail has been stopped and security forces are frisking anyone who looks suspicious.

Only journalists and people coming to meet their relatives are being allowed near the jail.

A dozen RAB personnel are standing guard and others from the elite police unit are patrolling the area.

An armoured personnel carrier have been deployed in the area as personnel from other security forces have also been deployed.

“We’ve bolstered security to avoid any untoward incident since we have two high profile death-row criminals,” DMP’s Lalbagh zone’s Additional Deputy Commissioner Sanjit Kumar Roy told bdnews24.com.

Around 10:15am, two men were seen entering the jail. Officials said they were magistrates.

There are no legal hurdle for executing the war criminals after the Appellate Division rejected their review petitions last week.

They can only seek presidential clemency, admitting to their crimes.

Neither Salauddin Quader nor Mujahid have done that so far.

Jail officials, declining to be named, say they will ask the convicts in presence of the magistrates whether or not they will seek mercy from the president.

But there was no official word from the jail authorities on the issue so far.

Two executed war criminals Abdul Quader Molla and Mohammad Kamaruzzaman had decided against seeking mercy from the President.